September 22, 2006 - Ecclesiastes 10-12 and Galatians 1
We must not allow anyone or anything to cause us to turn away from God to folly or to false doctrine. That is the lesson from our reading today. It is amazing how they have a similar theme, even though they were written in such different times and circumstances. That is a great evidence of the inspiration of the Bible.
Solomon's search for real meaning in life led him to a definite conclusion. That conclusion is found in the last two verses of the book. What does he tell us? We must fear God and keep His commandments, because that is man's all. That is not the most important thing out of several important things. That is man's all. That is everything. Then, He tells us that we will be judged on those two factors. Did we decide to practice just a little folly, because that would not really hurt us? (10:1) Did we think that we could pursue folly while we were young and then turn to God later? (12:1) Any line of reasoning that causes us to ignore God's commands and not to fear Him is destructive to us. We must live by His wisdom and not our own.
Then, in Galatians there is a similar problem. The believers had been listening to false teachers, and they were turning away from the true gospel to a false gospel. Paul sternly warns them that this is not a new gospel or a little different way to understand the truth. It is false, and it is to be avoided. He gives us a strong clue as to why this was happening. They were being men pleasers. (v.10) They were being influenced by false teachers out of a desire to please them and to be accepted by them. That had never been Paul's motivation in believing and following God. He was called to be an apostle by God, not by men. (v.1) When he was saved and called, he did not go to men to ask them what to preach. (v.16) He spent three years with the Lord before he went to the apostles. Then, he spent an even longer time growing in Syria and Cilicia before he began his ministry. Do you see the point? We are not to obey people, but we are to obey God. We must not allow people to lead us away from God for any reason.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Song of Solomon 1-3 and Galatians 2.
Solomon's search for real meaning in life led him to a definite conclusion. That conclusion is found in the last two verses of the book. What does he tell us? We must fear God and keep His commandments, because that is man's all. That is not the most important thing out of several important things. That is man's all. That is everything. Then, He tells us that we will be judged on those two factors. Did we decide to practice just a little folly, because that would not really hurt us? (10:1) Did we think that we could pursue folly while we were young and then turn to God later? (12:1) Any line of reasoning that causes us to ignore God's commands and not to fear Him is destructive to us. We must live by His wisdom and not our own.
Then, in Galatians there is a similar problem. The believers had been listening to false teachers, and they were turning away from the true gospel to a false gospel. Paul sternly warns them that this is not a new gospel or a little different way to understand the truth. It is false, and it is to be avoided. He gives us a strong clue as to why this was happening. They were being men pleasers. (v.10) They were being influenced by false teachers out of a desire to please them and to be accepted by them. That had never been Paul's motivation in believing and following God. He was called to be an apostle by God, not by men. (v.1) When he was saved and called, he did not go to men to ask them what to preach. (v.16) He spent three years with the Lord before he went to the apostles. Then, he spent an even longer time growing in Syria and Cilicia before he began his ministry. Do you see the point? We are not to obey people, but we are to obey God. We must not allow people to lead us away from God for any reason.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Song of Solomon 1-3 and Galatians 2.